At Home: TPD offers home safety tips for vacationers

Few things are worse than returning from a fun, relaxing vacation to find your residence had unwelcome visitors. While we spend a lot of time planning a trip, it is easy to neglect to plan for your home’s safety until the last minute. Sergeant Colleen Stuart of the Topeka Police Department said, “When we go on vacation there are so many details to attend to, it is always possible something falls through the crack. People may forget to stop their mail and newspaper service. The buildup of both in the mailbox and front steps alerts criminals that no one is home.”

Home Away Checklist

Here is a checklist to go through before a trip to help keep your home as safe as possible in your absence:

■ Lock all doors and windows, including garage and upstairs windows. Replace any broken locks and place a heavy wooden dowel in sliding door tracks in addition to the lock. Sgt. Stuart noted, “If you have a garage attached to the residence, make sure to lock the door leading from the garage to the house. This is a vulnerable spot, for many people lock and/or alarm the garage door but leave the interior door unlocked.”

■ Stop all mail and newspaper delivery, or ask a friend, neighbor or family member to bring it into your home each day. (This also allows them the opportunity to make sure everything is secure inside.)

■ Close all the curtains and blinds, and set timers on at least one light and one television to give your home a lived-in appearance. Consider installing a motion-detecting light outside your home.

■ Sgt. Stuart suggested if you have an alarm system, let someone on your callback list know you will be gone. “This way if the alarm sounds, the callback person will be prepared to meet the police at your home,” she said.

■ Make sure the driveway and sidewalks are shoveled in the winter, and the grass is mowed in the summer. Ask someone to keep up with these tasks while you’re away.

■ If you’re leaving a vehicle at home, Sgt. Stuart suggested you remove any valuables and lock the doors, even if it is in the garage. Another good idea is to ask a neighbor to park in the driveway while you are gone.

■ Don’t leave house keys hidden outside. Give them to a friend, neighbor or family member instead for emergencies. Give this person’s contact information to the alarm company incase of a problem.

■ If you will miss trash collection day, have someone take your cans to the curb and then take them back in once the garbage is picked-up.

■ Unplug computers, televisions and any appliance that would be damaged by a power surge. Shut off the water to your washing machine. The hoses are notorious for breaking and causing a flood. Also, clean out your refrigerator.

■ Don’t change the message on your answering machine. Look in your owner’s manual to learn how to check messages from an outside phone.

■ Sgt. Stuart said to make sure your address can be seen clearly from the street for emergency service personnel. Also, keep your trees trimmed up to seven feet and shrubbery trimmed down to three feet to provide a clear line of sight for anyone that goes past the house to see possible criminal activity.

Keeping Watch

Another option for homeowners is to hire a house sitter. This is an especially good idea for people with pets. Professional pet sitter Deb Sue Smith noted, “Pets are more comfortable in their own home. They are in their own surroundings, with their food and familiar smells. They might get lonely, but they are home and not in a [kennel] cage.”

Smith, who has been a pet sitter for 23 years, also has house sitting clients. Besides caring for the household pets, she will do a security check around the house to make sure everything is secure, bring in the mail and newspapers, and water the plants. She also comes at different times each day so, if someone were watching the house, they wouldn’t know when to expect her arrival.

Of course, homeowners don’t have to hire a professional house or pet sitter. Friends or family can be called upon to take on these tasks. However, Smith pointed out, “You get what you get.” She is bonded, insured and certified in animal CPR. Before taking a job, she meets with the client, writes up a contract detailing what services will be provided, and gives out references to be checked. “I’m a professional. I know what I’m doing.”

Another way to have someone watch-out for your home is to sign up for the TPD vacation check program. Homeowners fill out a vacation patrol form, which will cover everything from what vehicles are allowed at the home, who may be visiting the home, when timers on lights will activate, the alarm system particulars, and contact numbers incase of an incident. Then members of the Volunteers in Police Service program will check on the property each day.

“These volunteers are specifically selected, vetted and trained for these activities,” Sgt. Stuart said. “Upon return home, a simple phone call to let the department know is all that is needed to remove the vacation check.”

To sign up for the TPD vacation check program, call (785-368-9551) or stop by the department (320 S. Kansas Ave.), or go online (www.topeka.org/tpd/vacationhouse) to fill out the form. For more information about Deb Sue Smith’s pet sitting services, call 785-267-6142 or go to www.debsuesanimalsitting.com.